With less than a week before Tuesday's primaries in Georgia, new polls out today show former governor Roy Barnes is well positioned to win the Democratic Party's nomination for his old job. But the Republican contest appears headed for an August 10 runoff.

A Mason-Dixon poll finds Barnes leading his six Democratic primary opponents, with 54% of likely voters supporting him. If that percentage holds, he will have the majority needed to avoid a runoff. The next best performer in the poll was state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, with support from 20% of respondents.

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine leads the Mason-Dixon poll with 31%, followed by former Secretary of State Karen Handel with 23% and former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal with 18%. In the Rasmussen poll, Deal and Handel are tied for first among likely voters with 25% each and Oxendine has 20%. Former state Sen. Eric Johnson is in fourth place in both polls.

Update at 5:45 p.m. ET: Another poll just came out on the volatile GOP primary fight.

This one, by InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV, shows Handel, Deal and Oxendine in the top three, respectively, for the GOP. Handel leads with 24% among likely and early primary voters, while Deal was supported by 16% and Oxendine had 15%. Johnson came in fourth in the survey with 13%. InsiderAdvantage runs the Southern Political Report.

Who are the candidates vying to be the Peach State's chief executive? More on the race after the jump.

Barnes was governor for one term, from 1999 to 2003. He lost re-election in 2002 to the current governor, Republican Sonny Perdue, who cannot run again due to term limits.

Barnes' Democratic primary opponents include Baker, who is seeking to become Georgia's first black governor, as well as former Secretary of State David Poythress and state House Minority Leader DuBose Porter. Poythress and Porter were both in the single digits in the Mason-Dixon poll.

On the Republican side, Oxendine has had high name recognition but has run ads that some observers considered to be poor, political analyst Matt Towery wrote in the Southern Political Report.

Handel is seen by her opponents as a liberal and was the only GOP candidate not endorsed by Georgia Right to Life.

Deal served in the House from 1993 until March, when he resigned after casting a "no" vote on the sweeping health care bill. He also left shortly before a possible House ethics committee investigation.

Johnson, who resigned from his state Senate seat to run for governor, is seen as the establishment and big-business candidate, according to Towery.

A number of high-profile politicians have made endorsements in the race, which USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely reported on earlier this week. Former president Bill Clinton endorsed Baker, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is supporting Handel, and former House Speaker backs Deal.

The Mason-Dixon poll interviewed 400 likely Democratic primary voters and 400 likely Republican primary voters from July 8 through July 13. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The Rasmussen survey was conducted on July 13 and surveyed 943 likely Republican primary voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV poll was conducted July 14 among 728 likely primary voters and those who participated in early voting. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points and was weighted for age, race and gender.

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About Catalina Camia

Catalina Camia leads the OnPolitics online community and has been at USA TODAY since 2005. She has been a reporter or editor covering politics and Congress for two decades, including stints at The Dallas Morning News and Congressional Quarterly. Follow her at @USATOnPolitics.